Monday, December 16, 2002

A story published today by the Florida Times-Union reports that if Adrian Childs has one wish, it's that his partner of 10 years, Craig Wiegert, doesn't fall ill anytime soon.

"It weighs on our minds," said Childs, an assistant professor of music at the University of Georgia, which doesn't offer domestic partner benefits to same-sex couples. "Certainly our hope is that he will find a good job, but I also know that if he were my wife, we wouldn't have to worry about how we are going to provide for his insurance."

Childs is part of the Domestic Partnership Coalition of the University System of Georgia, a group that includes employees throughout Georgia's 34 public colleges and universities.

The organization's goal is to convince the Georgia Board of Regents, which oversees the university system, to approve domestic partner benefits for university employees who are gay, as well as a non-discrimination policy protecting sexual orientation.

The regents have responded that, amid tight finances, the state's benefits package is being reviewed.

"What's taking place right now is some very long-range planning," said Arlethia Perry-Johnson, regents spokeswoman. "Quite frankly, [domestic partner benefits] have to be considered against competing priorities."

While more and more schools have chosen to offer domestic partner benefits in recent years, Southern universities and colleges have tended to pass.

Of the 177 schools with such benefits, 29 are in the South, and none are located in Mississippi or Alabama.

"That's just part of being in a more conservative area of the country," said Lynne Carroll, a member of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network and an associate professor in mental health counseling at the University of North Florida, which doesn't offer domestic partner benefits.

Sadie Fields, director of the Christian Coalition of Georgia, says domestic partner benefits are wrong on both moral and economic grounds.

"It elevates same-sex partnership or liaisons to close to the same level as a traditional marriage, and that is wrong," Fields said. "Taxpayers' funds should not be used to fund different agendas that go against the belief system of the majority. It hurts families."

Fields said that if schools such as UGa were successful in securing domestic partner benefits, she believes they would see serious drops in alumni donations.

Despite objections from groups such as the Christian Coalition, both opponents and supporters of domestic partner benefits say the main debate these days is over the cost -- not the morality -- of implementing such a system.

"Any benefits modification has to be considered in a financial context," said Perry-Johnson, noting that Georgia's university system employs more than 35,000 people. "These kinds of contracts are negotiated years in advance. You're talking about a massive system."

Matt Winston, special assistant to UGa President Michael Adams, said the debate could be a long process and will move at the pace set by the Board of Regents.

"We are not prepared to get ahead of regents policy or state law," Winston said.

Annette Hatton, a member of the Domestic Partnership Coalition, said her group is ready for a long road ahead.

"We just know we have to work on various fronts and we have our work cut out for us," she said. "It's an interesting process. We will wait. We are not going anywhere."